Madjlessi, a 58-year-old Strawberry resident, was found dead May 6 inside the wreckage of his car on Mount Tamalpais. His family had reported him missing two days earlier.

The car crashed about 400 feet down an embankment off Shoreline Highway east of Muir Beach.

Investigators, mindful of the controversy and litigation surrounding Madjlessi, looked for evidence of foul play but found none, said sheriff's Lt. Keith Boyd, assistant county coroner.

Nor was there a history of suicidal thoughts on the part of Madjlessi, who had been indicted by a federal grand jury about a month earlier. Madjlessi was wearing his seat belt in the car when police found the wreckage, Boyd said.

The coroner's division determined the death was accidental and the cause was multiple blunt-impact injuries. The toxicology tests showed no presence of drugs or alcohol.

The crash investigation by the California Highway Patrol found no evidence of mechanical failure in the car, said CHP Officer Andrew Barclay.

Madjlessi was arrested April 9 on a federal indictment charging him with wire fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. He was released on bond.

Three other suspects were also indicted: David Lonich, a Santa Rosa lawyer, and two former executives at Sonoma Valley Bank, Sean Cutting of Sonoma and Brian Melland of Santa Rosa.

The charges involved a real estate project in Santa Rosa called Park Lane Villas East. Authorities allege that Madjlessi defaulted on a $30 million loan on the project, then conspired with the others to repurchase his own defaulted loan and regain the property by using a straw borrower.

The indictment lists 29 counts that carry decades in prison and millions of dollars in fines.

At the time of his death, Madjlessi also had a trial date pending in Marin Superior Court in a state insurance fraud case. Authorities allege he defrauded $1.4 million from two insurance companies by filing redundant claims after a fire at a Reno condo development in 2008. ------ (c)2014 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) Visit The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.) at www.marinij.com